


Love Thy Brother

by puppyfacedbrokenboys



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fraternity, Alternate Universe - Human, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-05
Updated: 2015-05-05
Packaged: 2018-03-29 03:22:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3880375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puppyfacedbrokenboys/pseuds/puppyfacedbrokenboys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frat Boy!Danny and Rusher!Ethan AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. PART ONE

**Author's Note:**

  * For [passion56321](https://archiveofourown.org/users/passion56321/gifts).



> What’s this… a fic longer than a oneshot from me? Yes, I am as shocked as you. I don’t know how long this will be... but passion56321 wanted a Frat Boy!Danny and Rusher!Ethan AU so I delivered. 
> 
> This is also based on this [au picspam](http://puppyfacedbrokenboys.tumblr.com/post/113222471531/dethan-au-rusher-ethan-catches-the-eye-of-frat) I made.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: There is an actual sorority by the name of the fictional fraternity I use in this fic. This fic, obviously, does not claim to be a reflection of the real sorority by any means. It was just a cool name, and I wanted to be clever and it’s too good to pass up. You will see why (hopefully).

He had been mulling the idea over in his mind for two years. Two years of his brother teasing him. Two years of being on the outside and looking in on the big, blow out parties every weekend. Two years of watching the guys in the house hang out and being a brotherhood.

It was time.

What had changed his decision? Well, it was his last year of college and he wanted to dive in and actually take part in the experience rather than walking to and from classrooms and libraries to his dorm, and attending the occasional football game huddled on the bleachers, alone, nose stuck in a book as he supported his brother streaking down the field and tackling a few guys.

At least, that was the logical, more in-depth reason.

Honestly? It was the very attractive, shirtless Hawaiian manning the rusher booth at the activities fair that he’d never seen before. The guy’s gaze settled on Ethan for a moment and smiled, and maybe it was his imagination, but Ethan could swear that he  _actually_  winked at him. Ethan’s mouth ran dry and he about tripped over his own feet, stumbling towards a bench that fortunately was right next to him.

And this is where he sat, chewing on his lip as he eyed the other male. His legs bounce and his fingers tap a sporadic rhythm on his heavy history book. He takes in the leis on the frat boy’s neck as his eyes trail over him, his stomach home to a flock of butterflies now. The guys behind the booth are all tall and tan, all lean muscle. Not short, geeky nerds like Ethan was.

 _Bet they haven’t even stepped foot in a museum_ , his mind says bitterly. Ethan sighs at himself, deciding to break his glance from the Adonis and actually read what they were selling… because it was not their bodies. Squinting a little and wishing he had his glasses and not his contacts, Ethan strains to read the bright, rainbow colored sign next to the table.

_So that explains the colors_ , Ethan thinks, eying the rainbow-colored leis around the guys’ necks. And a progressive, queer friendly fraternity was actually pretty cool. As an out and proud homosexual young man, he fit the bill to a tee. It was almost as if this was the perfect place for him.

So why wasn’t he jumping up and rushing towards the table to… rush?

He’d been out of the social scene long enough, so caught up in history textbook after textbook, paper after paper, that jumping headlong into a brotherhood – a brotherhood of drool worthy attractive men, mind you – was a little daunting.

“Just go for it, you nerd,” a voice that sounds just like his brother says. And if it wasn’t for the hand on his shoulder making him jump, Ethan would’ve just assumed it was all in his head.

“Wha–?” Ethan splutters, dropping his book as he turns to look up at his brother. Aiden looks more like the frat boy type, to be honest. Always had. It was another reason Ethan never committed to rushing.

“Just go for it. Every year you tell me you’re gonna pledge, but don’t. Just do it all ready.” Aiden sighs when Ethan looks back at the table with wide, little eyes; the only movement he makes. It’s not enough for Aiden; apparently, because next thing Ethan knows, he’s being dragged up by the back of his shirt and, after his book is pressed into his hands, then shoved – hard – towards the table.

Ethan stumbles a bit, but when he looks back at his brother, identical features glaring back at him with a firm nod, Ethan sighs and swallows. He squares his shoulders and then walks over to the table.

His feet inch forward slowly, and he hopes to just sneak a grab for a brochure and then high tail it out of there before he’s noticed. But that was not the case.

His fingers are just brushing the shiny paper of the brochure when he hears a, “Thinking about rushing?” The voice is like velvet in Ethan’s ears, and when he looks up, the Hawaiian is there, smiling. Ethan’s heart stutters in his chest and his breath catches as the other guy gives him a very subtle once over before amping up the brightness of his smile to show –  _oh, God, he has dimples_. Ethan’s hand slips on the book and he ducks his body to catch it, effectively covering the fact his knees gave a jolt – buckling.

“Uh, y-yeah. Figured it was about time I’d… get involved,” he says, nervous and rambly, and can’t quite look the guy in the eye.

But he catches the way the guy’s smile lifts up on one side. “Well, our frat is all about…  _getting involved_ ,” he says and Ethan just manages to pull his eyes up to catch the wink. Honest-to-God wink. A hundred percent certain this time. And if Ethan didn’t catch his double meaning, the wink seals his suspicion.

Oh, God, Ethan couldn’t do this. If just standing here faux-flirting made him feel this way, actually living with the guy in the same house was going to actually kill him.

Oblivious to or just ignoring Ethan as he tried to keep his cool, the guy went on to explain how their fraternity got involved in the community, not just the local but the LGBTQIA+, and then gave some blurb about it being the first frat like it in the state – facts, history stuff that Ethan should be eating up. Ethan sort of tunes him out and lets the sound of his voice wash over him as he marvels at how perfect this guy looks. 

He was in a daze, not quite believing.

_I’m gonna wake up any minute now._

He pinches himself where his arm are crossed over his book. Nothing happened.  _Awake. This is happening_. Ethan tunes back into the conversation just as the guy is finishing up.

“… We’d be happy to have you. What did you say your name was?”

Ethan blinks. He hadn’t. “What?”

Danny smiles to himself. It’s actually really adorable and dangerous to Ethan’s health. “Your name. I asked what you said your name was.”

“Oh.” Ethan feels a blush start on his ears. “E-Ethan. Ethan Price.”

“’S nice to meet you, Ethan. I’m Danny Mahealani.” He sticks his hand out for Ethan to shake, and Ethan’s relieved to see it wasn’t shaking as he took it. “I’m the Chapter President. I really look forward to seeing you pledge. We need more people like you, Ethan,” he says kindly, with that smile again and almost as if a spell fell over him, Ethan was mesmerized; hooked.

“Y-yeah. Yeah definitely,” Ethan hears himself say as Danny hands him a brochure and he smiles back – probably his dorky smile, like the true dork he is. He’s in a daze as he steps back, and then again. It takes him three steps to fully turn, and three more steps to look back.

All the while Danny’s watching him go.


	2. PART TWO

The next few days had Ethan reading and researching for hisclasses, which morphed into researching fraternity practices. Ethan kept finding himself on the landing on the frat’s page on the University’s site and Ethan staring at a photo of Danny, shirtless, from a party or event from last year. Aiden had found him in this position multiple times over the past couple days, and right now was no exception.

“Again, really?” His brother’s voice makes him jump and as he hears the door to their mini-fridge slam, Ethan’s quickly switching the tabs to a page on Alan Turing that he was researching for a paper. “You’re so pathetic,” Aiden teases and lightly taps Ethan on the back of the head with his knuckle before flopping down on his bed. “Isn’t your party thing tonight? Are you going to actually go or just sit here?”

Ethan levels a look at him that just has Aiden snorting.

“Bro, just go. You like this guy. Don’t waste your opportunity to get some!” At Ethan’s eye roll, Aiden takes a large gulp from his water bottle and then smirks. “This frat thing will be good for you. You need to get out a little; get your nose out of your books and computer screen. Make your own history instead of absorbing others.”

Those words hit Ethan in the gut like a sucker punch. He stares at Aiden like he’d picked his puppy until his eye caught the brochure again. His fingers reach out to touch it, fiddling as he mulls the idea over. Aiden was right. Ethan wants more out of life than just shuffling from class to class. This house would be a good place for him, to be accepted.

He can do this. Ethan checks the clock at the bottom of his laptop screen and rushes to shut it down. He skids over to his closet, ignoring Aiden’s chuckles from behind him as he rifles through at least five outfits before settling on a blue v-neck shirt and khaki shorts.

He can do this.

Once he survives pledging.

—-

The house looks like a normal, four story apartment building, with students spilling out into the yard as they wait to get inside. The panel siding is clean and a tan color. He can see a couple windows on the third story with decorated windows, and there’s a balcony on the front where a guy is yelling something, a red solo cup in his hand.

As he draws closer, Ethan feels like a fish out of water in the crowd, scanning faces to hopefully find at least one person he vaguely knew. It takes him five minutes to get close enough to step up on the porch, and another two for a tap on his shoulder to make him jump.

“Ethan!” comes a chorus from two guys as he spins around and the knot that had fallen into his stomach eased as he recognized them.

“Stiles, Scott!” Ethan greets back at the taller boys. He’d been Stiles’ partner in a past class, and sat behind Scott for a whole month in another. “What are you guys doing here?”

“We’re pledging!” Scott chirps and Ethan smiles.

“Yeah… figured we’d see if the frat life is all it’s cracked up to be,” Stiles adds, and then yells with a dude that streaks past them. He’s comfortable. Ethan wishes he was.

“Well, that’s great! I was worried I’d be stuck by myself during hell week,” Ethan admits over the noise of the crowd that keeps getting louder and louder the closer they get to the house.

“Don’t worry, man,” Stiles says and his hands drop down to squeeze Ethan’s shoulders. “We got your back.”

“Yeah, we’ll definitely get a bid!” Scott chimes in and Ethan just basks in their combined energy, and slowly the knot loosens and he can breathe properly. A genuine smile curls his lips as the trio make it over the threshold and into the house.

—-

Turns out, the party isn’t that bad. There’s guys dancing, guys kissing, guys singing, guys drinking. There’s females hanging out with females, whom are apparently from ΓΣΜ (Gamma Sigma Mu), Beta Alpha Sigma’s sister sorority for their queer female counterparts. Everyone is having fun, without fear, and can just be themselves.

Ethan was swept up in the atmosphere. He gets his ass kicked at beer pong by Scott and roped into singing karaoke with Stiles. He follows a tall, dark-skinned young man around the house in what is supposed to be a tour, but is really him just stumbling around with a following. Ethan brakes off and heads to the restroom once he finds on, and walks right in. A yell startles him from inside and Ethan’s cheeks flame as he’s met with a younger male – a freshman? – in the middle of doing his business and high tails it out of there, apologizing too much, too fast in his haste to just get out.

He’s on his fourth cup of bitter keg beer when he spots him. Danny. And the guy, in his Hawaiian print over shirt and a black tank that hugs his torso just so, is making a beeline right for him, dimples on full display as he motions for the guys trailing behind him to follow.

“Ethan! There you are!” Danny yells over the music. Even if Ethan could move his legs, his chance of escape was ruined now that Danny has seen him. “You made it! Guys, he’s the one I told you about.”

_Danny told them about me?_

“Yeah!” Ethan all but squeaks, mouth dry. He takes a gulp of his beer to cover it. “You have a… nice house here!”

“Haven’t scared you off then? Still thinking of pledging?” Danny asks with a low chuckle that Ethan wishes he could hear better and have the full effect wash over him.

“No, no,” Ethan cracks a smile of his own, shaking his head. “Definitely not. If anything, I’m even more excited to be here!”

“Good!” Danny explains, his face lighting up as his hand slaps Ethan’s shoulder. Ethan’s brain was probably making up things, but he swore it lingered. A shiver ran through him as Danny stepped closer, his breath on Ethan’s ear. “I promise, you’ll find yourself at home here. This may be hell week, but we’re not like the horror stories you hear. The hazing is only a minimum… just to see what you can take.” Danny pulls back with a wink. Ethan’s stomach is a knot again, but this time it’s all because of Danny. “Stick around! Once the party dies down a little, we have a couple games planned.” 

Danny takes his presidential duties seriously, and it’s very, very attractive to Ethan for reasons he could never name, even if he tried. The guy has him hanging on his every word. Ethan would streak down the street singing show tunes if he had to in order to get a bid at this point. For this very reason, Ethan finds himself nodding. “Looking forward to it!” And he means it. Anything so Danny keeps looking at him like that.

“Great!” Danny agrees, and somewhere along the line through their conversation, Danny lost his buddies and was just there with Ethan, huddled into a corner. How’d that happen? But Ethan didn’t care, because Danny was looking at him intently and the silence hung between them was charged with something and it wasn’t awkward at all.

The spell was broken when a dude ran up to Danny because “some idiot fell into the fountain” out back. Danny sends Ethan an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I gotta–” He gestures in the vague direction of out back. “See you later?”

“It’s fine,” Ethan is quick to assure as he nods. “Definitely!”

Danny doesn’t turn around for five steps backwards until he runs in to a dancing dude. He apologizes to the dude, but looks back at Ethan one more time with a smile as he disappears out the door.


	3. PART THREE

The party raged into the night and Ethan got swept up by Stiles and Scott and pulled into a game of what was supposed to be poker but had turned into a weird mix of Blackjack and then Bullshit as either no one knew how to play or were too drunk to remember. It was fun even with Ethan spacing off and trying to catch sight of Danny again with no success.

Ethan manages to steal a couch cushion sometime around four and crashes on the floor of the dining room with the rest of the pledges. Stiles and Scott flank him, and somewhere through the night, the kid from the bathroom spread himself out over Ethan’s feet.

Danny appears on the landing above with a gleaming white smile the next morning at breakfast, gazing down at his hangover and tired brothers. He claps three times to announce his presence to those that had not yet noticed him. Ethan swallows at the way the light shines in through the window behind him, casting him in a warm glow as he silently demands the attention of the brotherhood. He really is an Adonis.

“Gentlemen, I have something fun planned for you,” Danny announces, and it’s met with a mix of groans from the currently tired pledges and excitement from the Big Brothers. “It’s in the yard. When you’re finished with breakfast, everyone is to meet me back there. No exceptions. You have three minutes starting”—Danny squints at his watch and pauses dramatically—“now!”

Danny catches Ethan’s eye and winks before backing away and disappearing to the back of the house. Ethan’s stomach butterflies are awake again as he chews on a piece of toast, not even tasting it as he gobbles it down. He has to get his plate in the sink, put his folding chair away, and make it to a bathroom for one last once-over before making it out to the yard for the game. He can do that in three minutes, right?

Just barely, he can. He’s in a house full of men that either are not in a hurry or also have the same idea as Ethan. It takes him a full minute and a half to find an unoccupied mirror. Granted, there were only five in the whole house, but in a house full of men that actually cared about their appearance it was a hard feat.

He makes it to the backyard, standing next to Scott, Stiles, and Mason, the kid that was spread over his feet when he woke up, just in time for Danny to step over a long rope that had been laid out over the grass to address the brothers.

“As we are halfway through rush week, I feel we need to take the time to get to know each other a little bit more. We need to learn our similarities, but also our differences. Because differences are way more interesting than similarities, and as this Fraternity is built on values that celebrate differences and being proud of them, we must act on those values. This very fun, very informative activity we are about to play, gentlemen, is called Cross the Line.” Danny sweeps his arm behind him towards the rope in a dramatic fashion as the group whoops, claps, and hollars.

He then returns to walking in a horizontal line in front of the group, taking care to make contact with everyone at least once. His eyes linger on Ethan and a shivers runs down his spine. There’s a private smile in his eyes and Ethan’s heart pounds.

“This exercise is fairly simple. I will call out specific statements and ask that all of those to whom they apply walk to the other side of the line. For example, I might state that anyone who wears contact lenses cross the line. If this describes you and you feel comfortable acknowledging it, you would walk to the other side. Now, as I wear contact lenses and I want you guys to know, I would step over the line”—Danny stops his back and forth pace and walks backwards to step over the line to demonstrate—“like so. Once there you turn and face the group you just left and not anyone else who has crossed the line with you. Then return back to the original starting place. After a few seconds, I will make a new statement. Remember, there is no pressure to cross the line if you don’t feel comfortable doing so. You and only you will need to make that decision.”

Danny holds up a finger, smirking. “Here’s the twist. You’re going to be blindfolded. And you will not take off the blindfold until I tell you. This ensures that everyone will be surprised when it is revealed whom crossed the line. Boyd and Derek, pass out the blindfolds, please.”

Boyd and Derek do as they’re told, coming forward with piles of bandanas as they pass them around. Ethan grabs his and ties it around his neck. He helps Mason as the taller boy struggles with his. Then his eyes fall back on Danny again.

“There are three very important ground rules to this activity: The first involves listening. In order for this to be fun and effective, we need to keep this a safe and respectful environment. That means no offensive muttering or snickering, no bullying. All right? We are all men here, let’s act like it. However, kind words and the like are very much acceptable and encouraged. We’re here to learn, respect, and help each other, are we not?” Danny raises his palms and sweeps them out in front of him in a question, receiving affirmative nods and murmurs in answer.

“Second, if after the session you would like to talk with a particular individual about something you learned about them, we encourage you to follow up with that person... Third. No rough housing or pushing. Walk slow, and try not to hurt another brother, all right.” After Danny receives nods from the group he claps again, and raises his voice to an announcer voice. “BLINDFOLDS ON AND LET THE GAME BEGIN!”

The Hawaiian fishes a piece of paper out of his pocket and stays put. “All right, here we go. I will be participating, but not blindfolded as to help those if they stray in the wrong direction, mkay…”

The game starts off with general statements of ‘if you wear glasses,’ ‘if you prefer day or night,’ ‘if you’ve visited another country,’ etc. Ethan stays still for most of the game, as the statements do not apply to him. But he keeps his eyes on Danny throughout most of it, filing away little bits of information.

He learns that Danny prefers day to night, is allergic to nuts, has visited another country (Ethan makes a mental note to ask him about that later… if he gets the chance), he’s the oldest of his siblings, considers himself a Ravenclaw, and is a Computer Science major.

Ethan reveals he’s a History major, the youngest in his family, has never flown, is a first generation college student, is allergic to coconut, and considers himself a Hufflepuff.

They both wear glasses, have higher than 3.5 GPAs, plan to pursue advanced degrees after college, consider themselves trustworthy, value loyalty and friendship, and love dogs.

Then the statements take on a more direct turn.

“Cross the line if you consider yourself asexual.” Ethan doesn’t move, but when revealed Mason did.

“Cross the line if you consider yourself bisexual.” Ethan doesn’t move, but a couple guys did. Both Scott and Stiles among them.

“Cross the line if you consider yourself homosexual.” Ethan takes a breath and tip-toes his way to the line, spinning on his heel to face the way he’d come. He waits for Danny’s command and once he gets it, he pulls his bandana off, his gaze immediately finding Danny’s as he stands… over the line. Danny’s gaze sweeps around and when he finds Ethan he winks again and Ethan blushes a dark red, face hot.

With each statement that reveals what each person identifies as, there’s a round of encouraging applause. It fills Ethan with warmth and… acceptance. Like he’s safe here. Welcomed and understood irrevocably because they all share something about them that society doesn’t.

Danny throws another look over at him, and he feels like this is where he’s meant to be. 


End file.
